With the contact period of the recruiting season beginning on Nov. 28, Florida’s coaches were out in full force this week visiting committed and uncommitted prospects all around the country.

Urban Meyer said after the Gators’ humiliating loss to Florida State that his coaches would be hitting the road harder than ever the next day to try and start the rebuilding process. Meyer wasn’t joking as Florida’s staff has been one of the busiest in the country this week.

Here’s a list of some of the guys Florida’s coaches have checked out this week:

CommitsQB Jeff Driskel — Still very, very solid in his commitment to Florida.
FB Hunter Joyer — Will be Meyer’s first true fullback in his offense and has pure ability to make early impact.
WR Javares McRoy — Wants to be a deep threat, but will need time to develop.
TE A.C. Leonard — Alabama is still pursuing him, but he’s set on enrolling at Florida in January.
OL Trip Thurman — Florida’s top lineman commit. He moves very well for his size.
OL Chase Hounshell — Athletic, but raw at offensive tackle.
LB Ryan Shazier — He’ll make it in for his official next week. Yes, he does have a ride.
CB Nick Waisome — Safeties coach Chuck Heater visited him this week. He’s still solid on his commitment.
CB Louchiez Purifoy — Alabama is also showing a lot of interest and he’ll officially visit there in January.
CB Valdez Showers — He’ll officially visit next week.
ATH Clay Burton — He’ll officially visit next week.

Recruits of interestWR George Farmer (Gardena, Calif., Serra) — Still a long shot for the Gators, but tight ends coach Brian White is certainly working hard.
TE Junior Pomee (Moreno Valley, Calif., Rancho Verde) — Florida is still up there, but UCLA and Cal still have a little of the edge.
OL Josue Matias (Union City, N.J.) — He’s set to visit Florida next week.
DL Todd Barr (Lakewood, Calif.) — Another one of White’s targets, but it looks like Cal is the team to beat here.
DE Ray Drew (Thomasville, Ga., Thomas County) — He’s one of the top defensive ends in the country and this is a position of need for Florida.
DE Jeoffrey Pagan (Asheville, N.C.) — He decommitted from Florida this week, but linebackers coach D.J. Durkin was in to see him.
LB/DE A.J. Johnson (Gainesville, Ga.) Tennessee verbal — He’s still getting a lot of interest from Florida, but more as a defensive end than linebacker.
LB Stephone Anthony (Wadesboro, N.C., Anson) — His recruitment could depend a lot upon Pagan. These two are very close with each other.
LB Curtis Grant (Richmond, Va., Hermitage) — He’ll officially visit Florida this month, and Florida has been at the top for a while.
LB Lamar Dawson (Danville, Kent., Boyle County) — Safeties coach Chuck Heater is expected to be at his state title game tonight.
S Wayne Lyons (Ft. Lauderdale Dillard) — Florida has been near the top for a while, but Stanford is making a strong push.
S Malcolm Mitchell (Valdosta, Ga.) — Safety is a position of need for Florida, so keep and eye on him.
ATH Damian Swann (Atlanta Grady) — Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin stopped by to check on him this week.
ATH Marqise Lee (Serra) — White is still working him and Florida is still one of his top schools. What Farmer does will be key.

“Pure ability to make immediate impact”, that is, he probably won’t see the field until his sophomore season. This kid better be Percy Harvin good because that’s what it takes to get on the field at UF as a frosh. That said, the FB recruitment of this highly-ranked kid tells me perhaps Meyer is going to go for a new OC who is dedicated to the vertical passing game. There have been rumors the Okalhaoma State OC may be being contacted. Lets wait and see if it turns out to be true.

This has nothing to do with recruiting, although I read this stuff all the time and really enjoy!!!

Lets all get on the RUDY award bandwagon for Gary Beemer. I voted and only a few votes for him. Come on GATOR Nation lets get-r-done.

Ed, this is a SUPER column, keep it up. My daughter is in her last semester at Ole MIss in the Pharmasy program. Fl. grad with a degree in Chemistry. I’ll have to call her Dr. Daughter in a few months. I liked Oxford.

Hey Ed. Love the updates. Thanks a lot for keeping them coming. I had a question about Purifoy and Leonard. Now with Leonard’s double flip-flop to this point, how truly solid do you see him? Is he someone we can count on coming in…like Driskel solid? And for Purifoy. I’ve looked at him as one of the true “sleepers” during this entire recruiting season. Now that his numbers are blowing up and people are finding out more about him, do you see him still ending up signing with Florida in February? Or do you think ‘Bama’s pursuit will sway him away? Thanks!

I still don’t see a quality DE in this class. Pagan is good, but even he doesn’t blow me away, like some I have seen film of. Aaron Lynch looks to have better film than Pagan. So does Rome. Chickillo looks to be more of a 2 or 3 star to me from his film. Clowney is for real. I still don’t understand why we don’t get in on him. Oh well. Tony Steward needs to be jumped on. He has the best film of any LB in this class.

Um Todd, did you see the ‘Frosh’ who played this year?!?! they werent exactly Percy though Trey Burton was solid. Cody Riggs, Ronald Powell, and Matt Elam did ok…
Either way, its funny that rebuilding is the term used seeing that we have had great recruiting rankings the last several years. how bout better coaching and planning for next year with most of the kids we already have???

So what happened to Pop Saunders? Not listed as a verbal anymore, Ed? And here’s hoping we get an established OC (the guy from Oklahoma State sounds promising) and that our HBC uses the opportunity at DL coach to upgrade our defensive staff, too.

I watched Purifoy live against Navarre last week. Have to say I really wasn’t that impressed. He did break a long run for a TD on a defensive breakdown on Navarre’s part, but actually had a defender gaining on him as they were going down the field. Then late in the fourth quarter he was driving his team down the field to essentially put the game away when he FUMBLED at the ten without even getting hit. To make things worse for him Navarre went 90 yds in a minute to win the game with the td pass going against him for about 30 yds. Go ahead alabama you can have him; i’ve seen enough turnovers and the defense quitting!!!!!!!!!

So Edward, the news I hear is that Addazio will be taking another job, and I’ve heard that from two other sources who both don’t know each other, but both had the same story. I’ve heard rumors of Pitt and UConn. Care to expand upon how Addazio’s possible departure will affect Driskell, who recently raved about playing for Addazio? (Shudder)

Maybe Chris Martin can fill in next year. We could have a talented LB staff with Powell, Bostic, Chris Martin and Jenkins on the other side. That would be a nice 3-4 scheme. Steward and Grant are the best LBs in this class. Steward is the most athletic and harder hitter to me.

Andy – The answer is Jamal Golden. I have been singing his praises for a while. Just giving Ed a little of a hard time since he didn’t think he was good enough for Florida. He is a great player that plays QB in High School, but he would probably project as an athelete in college. Whoever gets him, which will probably be Alabama or Auburn is going to have a great player.

We need some studs at Linebacker. I seen a few in Jacksonville when I was down there but one standout was Jamil Murray of Bolles High School. That guy really lays the lumber and his noes is always around the football. Any word if we are looking at him?

by Gator Lover

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If Zach Abolverdi had a dollar for every time his last name was mispronounced … you just made him richer. Born in Orlando but raised in Gainesville since 1990, he grew up around Florida football during the Steve Spurrier era. He once threw a perfect spiral under Spurrier’s watchful eye at his summer camp. The Head Ball Coach told him, “That’s a nice throw for a little man, but hold that ball by your ear.” The 8-year-old gunslinger replied, “I already know how to throw a football.” He didn’t appreciate the little man comment either. Zach is a Hearst Award winner and graduate of the University of Florida. He enjoys spending time with family, Denzel Washington movies and only about a dozen music artists, most of whom go by their real name. College football, the NFL, March Madness and LeBron James provide his sports fix.